Chapter One
..:Rachel:..
Twelve Years Later
“Aaron, you can be such a jerk sometimes. Do you know this?” I groaned, trying to pull my tampons from his hand. Leave it to Aaron to go snooping in my room and find my stash. I even had them hidden in my underwear drawer, of all things. The blood rushed from my face knowing if he went snooping in there, he had seen my most personally belongings. I hid my embarrassment well as I fought to take them back from him.
I didn’t hesitate to try to take them from him, but as I reached over my bed to try to take them back, he moved out of the way and I fell into my bed, my hair sprayed out around me. Being as childish as he seemed to be most of the time, he climbed on top of my bed and started jumping. Great, he was messing up my perfectly made bed and nearly jumping on top of me. I climbed off the bed only to look up at him. He had a smile the size of the Cheshire cat on his face. If I were at his level, I would have slapped it off his perfectly sculpted face.
“Oh, look I’m a girl,” he teased opening one up and shoving it into his nose. “I could use these when I get nosebleeds,” he laughed. I groaned and rolled my eyes. He was so childish at times. I gave up fighting for them and slumped down on my bed with my arms hugged around my legs, furled tightly into my body.
“Get out!” I demanded as I pointed towards the door, pouting like I was upset.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No,” he laughed jumping off to the other side of my bed, taunting me with them still. I started to straighten out the bedspread around me while doing my best to ignore his idiotic child-like behaviors. I looked over at the empty bed across the room, wishing he were jumping on it instead.
Because this was our fifth foster family this year alone, the states’ people didn’t put us with any other kids because they thought that we would corrupt them. You could say we were troubled. It was mostly because Aaron irritated me so much. Our irritating each other usually led to several hundred or even thousand dollars in damage. As far as bickering, we could go on like this for hours back and forth. We both shared the same gift, hating each other with style, even though we would take a bullet for one another.
“Yes,” I was seriously going to kick his ass now. I tried to outsmart him by crawling over my bed. It worked and I laughed at his hurt expression after slapping him in the back of the head.
“Will you two stop arguing and come down and help me,” Mrs. Jameson yelled up the stairs. Immediately we stopped to listen. Aaron secretly taunted me with the tampons as I glared at him trying to take them back.
“We are coming Mrs. Jameson,” I quickly responded. She didn’t like waiting for anything.
“You know, girls don’t put those in their noses for nosebleeds right?” I asked, enjoying the look on his face as the blood drained from his face as he started to blush. It was just too easy to get him back for what he always did to me. I smiled in triumph. “Get out of my way,” I mumbled as I pushed him to the side and skipped over to the door to walk out.
“Wow is that the best you have got?” taunted Aaron, catching up with me and pushing me towards the door. I lost my footing and I slammed into it hard. I yelped as my face hit in-between the door and the jam. It would leave a mark for sure.
I was pissed now; I was going to get him back. I recovered from the impact, rubbed my face, and ran after him. I managed to come up behind him and push him down the six stairs leading down to the main level. It wasn’t like he was going to die or anything. It was six half- steps that were put there to accommodate the upper level. Since I had no coordination what so ever, inevitably, I tumbled down the stairs landing directly on top of Aaron, who was just recovering from the fall, with an, “oomph.”
I was in shock the few seconds my body was completely on top of his, my face almost smacking into his. Aaron took no time at all to enjoy the situation. A smile spread on his face when he realized our proximity. My arms were rested on either side of his body and our faces were millimeters from each other’s. As I looked into his eyes, I felt his warm breath blowing out of his lips as he breathed. Time stood still and my heart started to flutter in my chest. It was a moment like this that I had been waiting for, as he looked up and down searching for permission. It was a perfect moment—only to be ruined by Mrs. Jameson.
“Ahem,” she cleared her throat. Immediately, I looked up, rolled off Aaron quickly, and stood up. “You two are like a flipping light switch. One minute you are at each other’s throat and the next you are goggle-eyed for one another,” she said as she shaking her head.
“Um, what did you need Mrs. Jameson?” I asked straightening up my clothes that were twisted, remembering that it was her who had called us down in the first place.
“I need you two to clean your rooms and get ready for dinner—” she stopped and started giggling. Aaron and I both looked at her confused. “Aaron, what the heck do you have in your nose?” she asked walking up to Aaron and yanking on the tampon string. He must have forgotten about shoving up his nose.
“Ouch!” he pulled back from her rubbing his nose.
“Why do you have women’s feminine products in your nose?” she asked holding it up in her hands with a quizzical expression plastered on her face.
“Because he is a pain in my ass,” I replied sarcastically.
“Language missy,” she scolded, throwing the tampon in the garbage shaking her head. “Now dinner is in an hour so get to work you too,” she said, walking back into the kitchen.
“Mrs. Jameson, I’m going for a walk first. I will be back before dinner,” I yelled into the kitchen, hurrying out of the house.
“Okay hon, dinner is in an hour.”
Mrs. Jameson was a widow in her mid-fifties, a good housekeeper, and a great cook. The house was nice despite the lack of space but there was no hope of us being actually adopted by someone; we were too much trouble for anyone.
I let out a sigh as I reached the street. I started jogging at a steady pace and slowly I reached a faster pace. I kept up this pace for a few minutes until I could feel it burning in my lungs. My legs felt like Jelly but I continued running faster and faster, enjoying the wind in my hair and the ache in my lungs. I loved it because it kept me active considering I had two left feet at just about anything I did but running. I didn’t realize where I was headed until I cut across the grass of a house into a park.
I had found the park the first day we were here. The cold wind felt great on my still blood-less face as I stopped to catch my breath. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Aaron came after me. It seemed that everywhere I went, Aaron and I had this magnetic pull toward each other, and he eventually followed behind. I took the brief seconds alone to calm myself.
We had been inseparable since the age of five. As far back as I could remember we would nag one another and I would end up smacking him and running away. This was how I came across this park. Aaron and I got into it and I started running until I stumbled across the swings. I sat here for hours until he came and found me. Even though we aren’t blood related, some of the time it felt like we were telepathic or something similar to that. We were stuck like glue at the hip to one another one.
Every time I ran away, he could find me. He usually gave me enough time to cool off and collect my thoughts, but he always came to find me. It’s something I eventually might thank him for one day.
I sat down on the swing set and started pumping my legs. I always loved the feeling of the air sweeping past you as you kicked your legs and pushed yourself towards the sky. The swings brought me back to my childhood before my life went haywire.
As I gained air, I released my ponytail to let my hair fly in the wind as I went up and down.
“Hey look, the freak is swinging again,” called out a five-year-old version of Aaron. I didn’t like him then.. He was a jerk.. Way before our accident he picked on me, he pulled my hair, and called me names.
He and his friends would walk towards me and he would do horrible things to me.
“Get off the swing freak; I want to swing,” he said shoving me backward off the swing. I flipped back and I held in a yelp as my face connected with the prickly bark underneath. I held back my tears. Of course, no one saw him do this. Even the yard watchers would brush it off like nothing was happening. The saddest thing was that even if my mom and dad saw, they wouldn’t care. They hit me, too: except they hit me harder and more often than Aaron and his friends.
I stood up and wiped the tears from my eyes. I started running far away from Aaron. He was so mean to me. I didn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt me. I was just a little girl.
I wiped the tears off my face as I caught sight of Aaron walking towards me in his favorite jacket. I couldn’t help but admire the way it hugged his body and how it would smell like him when I would pick it up and hang it in his closet.
He was walked up looking like a puppy that peed on the carpet. I couldn’t say no to that face. It was my one and only weakness, actually I had quite a few weaknesses when it came to Aaron. He was my weakness.
“Hey, Rachel are you okay?” he whispered so low I barely heard it.
“Mmhmm,” I sobbed trying to quit crying. In hard times, I always thought about our past. It was horrible what we had gone through. Between Aaron picking on me at school and abusive parents, I’m not sure I regret the way my life has been since our parents died. Foster parents may only be in it for the money but they have never hit me—so far. All the times that Aaron and I got into it, he was always there for me. He was my rock.
“Listen, Rachel, I’m sorry for going through your room and teasing you when you pushed me down the stairs.” He walked closer to me and I inhaled deeply. Holy crap, did I just get an apology from Aaron Michaels?
“It’s okay,” I replied swinging again not looking at him. I quickly wiped the newer tears that had fallen down my cheeks. He didn’t look at me, and I wished I could tell what was going through his head. For being best friends, he was very secretive about his feelings most of the time.
“Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, still not looking at me.
“Of course,” I replied looking down at the swing next to me, kicking the bark underneath my feet. Why couldn’t he be this nice all the time, not picking on me?
He chuckled to himself. “Whoa Rachel, why are you crying?” I looked up from the ground and his eyes were wide as he looked down at me. I wiped my eyes again, not feeling the tears that were still there.
“It's nothing, just thinking about when we were young,” I quickly replied.
“Oh, okay. Want to tell me about it?” he asked. His face was solemn as he looked over at me. I shook my head ‘no’ as I continued to swing.
“Well, Mrs. J was making spaghetti, your favorite. Do you want to head back?” he asked after a few minutes of quietly swinging. I had been kicking the bark away from underneath me and I had two perfect crevices in the ground.
I thought about it for a second before I said yes. Of course, I wanted to go back. Spaghetti was, in fact, my favorite food. Mrs. J made the best spaghetti out there.
“Let’s go,” I jumped off the swing leaving it swinging back and forth, taking off running towards the house.
“Hang on a minute,” Aaron yelled after me trying to jump off like me. He failed miserably at it and stumbled forward careful to not fall on his face. I started to giggle as I was running. I had to stop running because I inhaled too much air and started choking. He came running over towards me and patted me on the back. I looked up at him and smiled.
“Last one there is a rotten egg,” I shouted taking off full speed.
“You’re on like Donkey Kong,” he yelled back as he passed me up. He may have been in the lead now, but not for long. He didn’t know how to pace himself.
As expected, I beat him there by a couple minutes actually; he got tired halfway through and had to walk the rest of the way.
“Ha, beat you,” I teased walking into the house. He came up behind me and tickled me on the sides. I jumped up and yelped. The smell wavered to my nose. The smell of Italian and parmesan bread made my mouth water, distracting me from Aaron, who was still assaulting my sides. I turned around to chide him, our faces inches from each other. My breath caught in the back of my throat as we were interrupted by Mrs. Jameson, again.
“Rachel, will you come here please and help me,” she called out. When I walked into the kitchen, she looked at me. “You have to tell that boy how you feel,” she winked. My heart stopped. I don’t feel anything towards him. He’s just Aaron.
I drew in a deep breath. “He’s just Aaron,” I replied quickly. I didn’t hear what she mumbled to herself as I walked out of the kitchen with the bread and took my seat across from Aaron, resting my feet in his lap.
I kept telling myself, He’s just Aaron.
If I didn’t have strong composure, I would have jumped up and squealed like a little girl when Aaron’s rough hands found my calves underneath the table. I smiled as he kept on with his conversation, moving his fingertips in circles. I was going to jump out of my seat any minute. I was super ticklish everywhere. Aaron knew this and continued. I tried to pull my leg back, but I was stuck. I cursed under my breath.
“What’s that darling?” she asked looking over at me, breaking her conversation with Aaron.
“Yum, it’s great Mrs. Jameson,” I said scowling at Aaron who simply smiled and kept doing exactly what he had been. Aaron started eating, brining one hands away from my leg, but one of his legs held mine under him. My foot was starting to go to sleep and I started wiggling away from him. He just smiled and kept it there.
I was relieved when dinner was over. Mrs. Jameson excused herself to her room leaving Aaron and I to clean the dishes. We cleared the table in record time, seeing who could carry the most dishes at one time. I won surprisingly, and had started rinsing them with soap. The house was old school and didn’t have a dishwasher so we had to wash all of them by hand. I didn’t mind but Aaron was the one who was slower than the freaking ice age.
“Hey, do you mind speeding up a bit? We are going to be here until midnight if you don’t,” I chuckled.
He rolled his eyes down at me as I got an idea. I spun the towel around, winding it up, before I flicked it at him. He yelped at it connected with his butt. He started rubbing it, slamming a pot down into the sink, causing it to overflow and water to shoot out everywhere. In a matter of seconds, I was drenched through my shirt. I was wearing all white so I was sure you could see my bra. I snapped the towel again this time a little bit harder than before. As it connected, he jumped again lurching after me. We stumbled back falling to the floor. Aaron had a smug grin on his face, as his body pinned mine against the ground.
“That is what you get for snapping me," his grin turned to his infamous smirk as he stood up, looming over my body. His eyes adverted to my white shirt and a blush crept onto his face. My own face heated up as I realized he was staring.
“Uh, I’m just going to take a shower and get dry. Do you have this?” I asked pointing to the few dishes that still needed to be washed and the floor that desperately needed to be dried now. He didn’t say anything as I stood up and walked out. He just nodded his head.
The second I reached the bathroom, I turned on the hot water, sinking into the tub. My hands tangled in my hair as the look on his face as he stared burned into my brain. Why would he be so interested in me anyway? We have always been like this. Nothing would ever change that. My heart fluttered at images of his muscular naked torso covered in water.
Get it together Rachel. I told myself over and over again. My inner thoughts were interrupted by a banging on the bathroom door.
“Hey Rachel, are you almost done?” Aaron asked. I had forgotten about the fact that he was probably freezing by now in his too clothes.
“Err, sorry I will be right out,” I stood up, stepping out of the tub. I hadn’t brought any clothes into the bathroom. I was too enthralled in my thoughts to get any dry clothes. I picked up my wet ones and they were too wet to put back on. “Uh, Aaron are you out there?” I asked through the door, wrapping the towel tightly around myself just incase he was outside the door. He had seen enough of me for one day.
When he didn’t answer back, I assumed he had gone away. I slowly opened up the door and started to creep out into the hall. I ran right into Aaron, who was sitting outside the door, half asleep. Of course, with my luck, my towel slipped off.t
“Oh shit!” he looked back down to the floor as soon as he realized I was nude.
“Gah, why didn’t you just go to your room or something?” I chided tugging the towel into place.
“Because, I was too wet to,” he replied standing up, shading his eyes, and walking into the bathroom. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as I ran back into my room and found the first set of pajamas I could. He didn’t need to be flashed any more than he already was. I chose my baggy t-shirt and SpongeBob sweats. Yes, I was seventeen and wore SpongeBob.
When the water shut off, I waited for his bedroom door to close before I went to it. We would always play video games until all hours of the night or until Mrs. Jameson came in and told us to go to sleep. She didn’t care that we were the opposite sex. She actually would ask why we didn’t date. I would shudder when she brought it up. Most of the time, it caused butterflies in my stomach. Aaron wouldn’t think of me that way. Even when his friends would come over, I was just one of the guys.
I stopped at the door, knocking just in case he wasn’t dressed. He had seen me, I wasn’t about to walk in on him naked too.
“Come in,” he yelled. I pushed the door open and he was propped up on his elbows playing Call of Duty. It was a game I was surprisingly better at than him. He had only put on a baggy pair of sweatpants. I couldn’t help but stare at the toned muscles of his back as I walked in and sat Indian style on his bed next to him, grabbing a controller.
“Ready to lose?” I smirked.
“You’re on!” he got up and reset it so we could start from the beginning. His room had been our social spot. Aaron was popular at school therefore; he always had friends over at the house. They enjoyed my presence seeing as I was the only one whom they couldn’t beat in videogames.
After two hours, I gave up. I beat him of course. I had laid down next to him on my elbows just like hm.
“Wanna watch a movie?” he asked as I yawned. I looked over at the clock on his bedside table. It was already almost two in the morning. I nodded my head ‘yes’ as I curled up in a ball, diagonally on the bed. I was tucked under the covers, where it was nice and warm. Aaron looked though his movie collection and smirked popping one into the consol.
The play screen popped up and I noticed Paranormal Activity III pop up. I groaned as he crawled into the bed next to me, under the covers too.
“Jerk, you know that this movie scares me,” I complained, slapping him on the chest when he sat back on the bed. He simply smiled as it started to play. I closed my eyes at the scary parts while he simply laughed. “Rachel, they are all fake. You can totally tell that it’s all pretend,” I heard him assure me. I couldn’t help but feel the heaviness of my eyelids every time I closed them. Before I knew it, they stayed shut. I was too tired to get out of the bed and walk the whole way to my room.
I shrugged it off as sleep over came by tired body. Aaron must not have noticed because the last thing I remembered was him kissing the top of my head and telling me that he would protect me from the ghosts and monsters and I chuckled at him.
“Night Aaron,” I whispered into his ear, taking in his intoxicating smell. He turned his head to the side and our faces were in the same compromising position as earlier on the stairs. His breath was hot against my lips again. Goose bumps arose on my arms as my mind shut off and I was asleep instantly, not sure whether or not I had dreamt it.